RESUMO
Background: Health literacy proficiency is essential for health care professionals to provide quality patient care. There is limited research exploring health literacy proficiency among undergraduate health science students. Objectives: To determine health literacy among health science students in Singapore using the electronic Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ). Design: A cross-sectional survey using purposive sampling was conducted among undergraduate health science students. Methodology: This study hypothesises that health literacy is influenced by gender, and it increases with the level of health science education, attributed to the increased exposure to the health care system and health care education as undergraduates progress through the years of study. Eligible students from the 4-year entry-level programmes of diagnostic radiography, dietetics, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, radiation therapy and speech and language therapy, aged from 21 to 50, were invited. Exclusion criteria were students who were no longer studying due to dropping out or having immediately graduated from these programmes and students in the accelerated programmes whose studies would be completed in less than 4 years. Results: In total, 111 respondents (72 females and 37 males) completed surveys (response rate, 7.7%) returned from physiotherapy (n = 69), occupational therapy (n = 25), diagnostic radiography (n = 12) and dietetics (n = 5), with nil from radiation therapy and speech and language therapy. All participants were English literate. Female participants demonstrated higher HLQ with a mean total score of 30.67 (standard deviation (SD) = 0.61) versus male participants 29.83 (SD = 0.53). Year 2, 3 and 4 students generally scored higher than Year 1 across all nine HLQ scales. Overall, dietetics students had the highest total score on the HLQ, while the diagnostic radiography students had the lowest scores for all the nine HLQ scales. Conclusion: This study established the health literacy level of health science students in Singapore. Gender and years of study influenced health literacy levels, supporting the hypothesis.
Background: Health care professionals need to understand health information well to provide good patient care. There is little research on how well health science students understand health information. Objectives: This study aims to determine how well health science students in Singapore understand health information using a questionnaire known as the Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ). Design: The study surveyed health science students. Methodology: The study explored if the understanding of health information is influenced by gender and increases with more years of health science education. This is because students get more exposure to the health care system and education as they continue their studies. Students from various health science programmes aged 21 to 50 were invited to participate. Students who had dropped out or just graduated and were in accelerated programmes were excluded. Results: The survey was completed by 111 students (72 females and 37 males) from physiotherapy, occupational therapy, diagnostic radiography and dietetics. No students from radiation therapy and speech and language therapy participated. All participants could read and write in English. Female participants scored higher on the questionnaire than male participants. Students scored higher in their second, third and fourth years than in their first year of study. Dietetics students scored the highest overall, while diagnostic radiography scored the lowest. Conclusion: This study reported the level of understanding of health information among health science students in Singapore. The level of understanding was influenced by gender and years of study. Key messages: ⢠Establishing the health literacy level of health science students in Singapore is important.⢠Senior students tend to have better health literacy compared with junior students.⢠Navigating the health care system and obtaining support from health care providers are areas where students can benefit from health literacy education.⢠Educational materials should be optimised to address potential health literacy deficits and ensure high literacy levels upon graduation.
Survey on the level of health information understanding among the health science students in Singapore.
RESUMO
Purpose: Prolonged bed rest and immobility in the intensive care units (ICU) increase the risk of ICU-acquired weakness (ICUAW) and other complications. Mobilisation has been shown to improve patient outcomes but may be limited by the perceived barriers of healthcare professionals to mobilisation. The Patient Mobilisation Attitudes and Beliefs Survey for the ICU (PMABS-ICU) was adapted to assess perceived barriers to mobility in the Singapore context (PMABS-ICU-SG). Methods: The 26-item PMABS-ICU-SG was disseminated to doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, and respiratory therapists working in ICU of various hospitals across Singapore. Overall and subscale (knowledge, attitude, and behaviour) scores were obtained and compared with the clinical roles, years of work experience, and type of ICU of the survey respondents. Results: A total of 86 responses were received. Of these, 37.2% (32/86) were physiotherapists, 27.9% (24/86) were respiratory therapists, 24.4% (21/86) were nurses and 10.5% (9/86) were doctors. Physiotherapists had significantly lower mean barrier scores in overall and all subscales compared to nurses (p < 0.001), respiratory therapists (p < 0.001), and doctors (p = 0.001). A poor correlation (r = 0.079, p < 0.05) was found between years of experience and the overall barrier score. There was no statistically significant difference in the overall barriers score between types of ICU (χ2(2) = 4.720, p = 0.317). Conclusion: In Singapore, physiotherapists had significantly lower perceived barriers to mobilisation compared to the other three professions. Years of experience and type of ICU had no significance in relation to barriers to mobilisation.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: To date, a validated Chinese (Mandarin) six-minute walk test (6MWT) translated instruction is not available. Translation of the Chinese 6MWT instruction is done in an ad hoc manner within the Chinese-speaking populations. This study aimed to develop a set of valid and reliable Chinese (Mandarin) instructions of the 6MWT. METHODS: Translation was performed from the original English instruction via the recommended "Process of translation and adaptation of instruments" by the World Health Organization to generate the Chinese instructions. The Chinese instructions were tested with 52 healthy adult participants for its validity. Each participant underwent three 6MWTs and a cardiopulmonary exercise test. Randomization allowed participants to undergo the walk test in both the original English and the new Chinese instructions. Face and content validity, intra-rater and inter-rater reliability of the Chinese instructions of the 6MWT were established through the translation process. Criterion validity was established by analyzing the results of the 6MWT and cardiopulmonary exercise test. RESULTS: Intraclass correlation coefficient for inter-rater reliability was excellent ( ICC = 0 . 999 , 95% confidence interval = 0 . 996 -1.000). Similarly, the intra-rater reliability across the three raters was high (R1: ICC = 0 . 996 , 95% confidence interval ( CI )= 0 . 812 -1.000; R2: ICC = 1 . 000 , 95% CI = 0 . 994 -1.000; R3: ICC = 1 . 000 , 95% CI = 0 . 998 -1.000). The 6-min walk distances collected from the Chinese and English instructed trials correlated positively with the maximal oxygen consumption ( r = 0 . 315 , p = 0 . 023 ; r = 0 . 309 , p = 0 . 026 ). CONCLUSION: This is the first study to develop and validate the Chinese (Mandarin) instructions of the 6MWT, and the translation is as reliable and valid as the original English instructions.
